JAKARTA: The number of fire hotspots across Indonesia more than quadrupled to 1,104 on Sunday, with Kalimantan bearing the brunt as prolonged forest and land fires continued to generate smoke and haze, worsening air quality in several provinces.
The Forestry Ministry said the number of forest and land hotspots rose from 270 on Saturday, with Central Kalimantan recording the sharpest increase to 495 hotspots, up from 92 the previous day, while West Kalimantan rose to 174 from 22.
The ministry on its social media platform said the sharp increases followed several days of relatively low hotspot counts in Central Kalimantan and West Kalimantan despite continuing firefighting operations.
A total of 61 aircraft remained deployed in both provinces, including 44 for water bombing and 17 for aerial patrols and weather modification operations, it said.
